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Government to court satirists and impersonators

With voting — particularly amongst the young — at an all-time low, advisors to Tony Blair's government have suggested that more easily impersonated politicians are introduced into the cabinet and high-profile positions.

Many government ministers, it seems, are simply too hard for the likes of McGowan, Bremner and co to impersonate. The result is that those politicians are not mocked, and are hence ignored by young voters. Think-tank workers at the Centre for Deviant Political Research point at the likes of Jack Straw as an eminently mockable yet totally overlooked politician.

The research team have deduced that those politicians that are within the McGowan-Bremner repetoire are five times more likely to be recalled by young people stopped at random in the street, and are therefore more likely to be popular — a synonym for "effective" in the Blair government thinking.

At a Downing Street cocktail party earlier this week, Blair met a range of satirists and impersonators to discuss who amongst the current crop of politicians was easiest to "do". So important is this considered to be, that even Mike Yarwood — believed by many to have been dead for at least fifteen years — was invited. His suggestion, however, that Wilson, Healey and Heath be exhumed was met with stony silence.

"This shows particular foresight on the part of the government," commented Alistair McGowan, mugging hopelessly as either John Prescott or Alistair Campbell. John Bird added: "Best news we've had since old Dennis Thatcher pissed off back to the golf course."

Commentators eagerly await the result of this popularity contest by proxy in future cabinet reshuffles.

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